Viewing profile — secthrowaway

> I'm getting close to believing that starting any online service in the United States is unethical, because of what it will do to its users. Let me know what country you can start…

It might be waived in the event of an imminent action. Sort it out after the threat of the action is over.

Are you also similarly upset about the activities of the BND, MAD, BfV and the LfVs that operate out of your own country?

> That said, "US selectors" shouldn't return the results that they do in the first place. Determining if a "selector" is tied to a U.S. person is actually a very subtle and very ha…

Did the possibility ever cross your mind that the fake accounts and users are simply an attempt by a very small fringe group to bulk up their numbers and look like a more legitimat…

Outside of magical unicorns, what kind of unicorn should guard things? I'm afraid automated systems don't offer either the coverage or the flexibility to provide what you think sho…

> Yes, but you don't copy all communications to try and find the astonishingly small number from the most closed-off country in the world. What would your collection proposal be th…

> He just bought it retail. There was a great interview of Kim Jong-Il's sushi chef awhile back, the way he gets ingredients is the chef makes trips abroad to foreign markets and b…

pera: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6911100 > Really? why should anyone trust in anything coming from the NSA when you are systematically lying again and again? why should w…

md224: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6911261 > Anyone who defends the NSA on the grounds that it only targets those who are worthy of targeting needs to convince me that ano…

I can confirm much of this article. (A couple years ago I provided some comments here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3296691 ) There's lots of condemnation of the poster, and…

You actually can't handle classified data, or derive something from classified data, that doesn't automatically classify the derived work (a report, or some such) at at least the s…

I'm assuming you aren't actually asking me to prove a negative. If a reading of NISPOM doesn't clarify it for you, then there's really nothing more I can say that will persuade you…

Why not? Provide your own numbers as an estimate. You can get a clearance at 18, and people live into their 70s and 80s pretty regularly. The 4.2 million with a clearance are not t…

You actually can't handle classified data, or derive something from classified data, that doesn't automatically classify the derived work (a report, or some such) at at least the s…

Yes, close personal contacts with people from unfriendly countries can be a problem. However, I do know people with clearances who are from several countries the U.S. is not partic…

Right, often they are simply used to indicate when a line of questioning is stressing out the subject and to continue on that line.

And the corollary, just because people have access to sensitive information means they know all of the sensitive information. "Well I have a clearance and can tell you this is how …

Right, my out-of-the-ass estimate is probably very conservative. It's probably an even lower ratio in reality, 1:10, 1:15 maybe?

Right. As to specific compartments and SAPs, I wouldn't have any idea what the number is (by design). I've worked on SAP programs that had 3 people on them. Some of the larger comp…

I'm actually surprised by this. I work with a ton of people with foreign born wives (many not even green carded yet) -- soldiers tend to marry where they are first stationed. Also,…

All fair questions (I don't know why the down votes for you)! "You said that there is no level strictly above Top Secret (just comparmentalizations within that). Is there any actua…

Well...it can be conflicting. At the Secret level, you tend to have access to much wider ranging information than in a SAP. A person working Intelligence in Japan for example, migh…

Most of the work environments are pretty boring big-corp style stuff, except there's more locks on the doors and often you don't get any windows because people are stupid and open …

Yeah, that model is more or less what's in use. Except the real-world version is a bit more complicated and messier (and more confusing). But the principle is all the same. Read go…